


Robin's Egg Exotic Pet and Supply Store

by Ylevihs



Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén
Genre: descriptions of reptiles, non binary sidestep, pet buying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24346783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ylevihs/pseuds/Ylevihs
Summary: Rohid purchases a pet
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Robin's Egg Exotic Pet and Supply Store

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to get a feel of writing for Rohid

The shop itself was surprisingly large, once one stepped through the beaded curtains and into the back space filled with terrariums. All manner of reptiles peered back at the two figures moving through the aisles. The more common ones lined the front containers. Leopard geckoes and corn snakes. Some carpet boas for the more intrepid college student looking to impress her friends.   
Rohid had killed a man like that once. A memory for another time. 

“We just got this guy in this last night,” the store owner was unassuming. Just here to do business in a way that Rohid could appreciate. The fewer questions asked meant the fewer answers known, should more questions ever be incoming. He made a few notes about Rohid’s appearance and interest in the animal and beyond that, carefully blacked out the other information. Clean solid lines. It would hardly take any effort at all for Rohid to ensure they stayed a foggy memory in the man’s mind. 

His mind wasn’t heavily guarded, all things considered. A few light pokes revealed that the previous owner had fancied themselves a collector of exotics. And she’d made an unfortunate series of mistakes while handling one of the more venomous snakes in her collection. Two of the animals had been relocated here into the back room of Robin’s Egg Exotic Pet and Supply Store. 

One was a gorgeous golden orange bush viper that Rohid found themselves lingering a bit too long over, spotting her adjusting her position along a few branches strategically placed through her enclosure. Rohid leaned in just a bit closer to encloser and let their mind leak out at the edges. The snake paid them no mind in return to the feeling of their thoughts. She was recently fed and looking forward to not being bothered until it was time to eat again. The air in her tank was warm. She was content to be full and out of danger. 

It was a fantastically simple feeling. One they hoped would be echoed in the other reptile taken from the dearly departed.   
The other, and the one Rohid was here for, was a blue iguana. By no means as dangerous or rare as the snake, but they’d seen the image posted online and could resist everything but the temptation to call and inquire about it.

They’d spent a very, very long time considering animals. They were the in between space between themselves and the human beings that they were designed to mimic. People. Julia and Dr. Mortum and. And Chen. Were all so complicated. All required such different levels of energy to interact with.

And while animals could be a drain as well, there was something much more manageable about their minds. Maybe if Rohid could learn to be better with a reptile, they could one day learn how to be a better person? It was an indulgent thought.

Birds were too sharply and strangely intelligent for their own good. And flock mentality was always a silent terror at the back of their throat. Dogs reminded them too much of domestication. Too much of collars and choke chains and perimeter fences. Too much of growling and mindless obedience and pack mentality. Cats would have been fine, if not for their allergies. And there wasn’t much to a fish that Rohid couldn’t get from staring at their puppet’s face in the mirror. Pretty and brainless. Fun to watch swim around with the other fishes, but not much beyond that. 

Rohid didn’t look away quick enough from the bush snake to stop Robin from circling back, making their back tighten up slightly. It wasn’t that Rohid didn’t like Robin—quite the opposite in fact. The slightly pudgy man may have fit into a mental image of a disreputable dealer—the balding head and bowling shirt were only hindered by his gold chain necklace—but the man took his animal care seriously. It simply seemed he was a terrible judge of character. His clientele ended up mostly comprised of bored rich children with no idea of how to care for the animals. Or, like Rohid, criminals who wanted to indulge. 

“Ah, _atheris hispida, >_ and a beautiful specimen to boot. She’s fully grown now, 23 inches,” and he gave Rohid a cursory glance that slid off easily. During their casual phone conversations, Rohid had expressed interest in only one animal. 

“A beautiful snake,” Rohid agreed, hands slipping into their pockets, dreading that the next time they returned to the small shop they would learn she’d been sold to a frat house for Halloween.   
Robin clicked his tongue, not terribly disappointed that another sale wouldn’t be made. “Ah, but of course, you’re here to see the iguana,” turning back to head towards the ‘Business Office’ at the very back. “He’s young still. Hasn’t come into his full color, or size yet. But he should be there soon, give him a year maybe,”

Rohid nodded absently, eyes trailing over the last few enclosures. Thick paned and well lit, holding the grown constrictors and pythons. The one in the nearest terrarium yawned massively and swung his head back down to take a drink from his water dish. The temptation swelled and then passed. They really were just here for the lizard. Robin opened the door to his office with a key attached to his belt and held it open for Rohid to enter. Sitting on the main desk was a large terrarium, in which sat a calm and rather fat looking young iguana. 

The color was still in the early stages of shifting to blue grey, as Robin had said, and the lizard was only about two feet long from his nose to the tip of his tail. Young. But he was going to grow into a fantastic shade of turquoise. And his mind was absolutely placid, entirely unbothered by the people talking around him or the new face. Well-fed and relaxed. Like walking outside of a day spa and getting brushed by the warm, perfumed air. Rohid fell in love instantly. 

“He’s well socialized, which is important when keeping these guys domestically,” the unspoken question of ‘you know that right?’ remaining unspoken. Rohid almost wished he would ask; Robin was so terrified of offending a customer he’d sell just about anything to anyone. But still, Rohid nodded. The salesmen shifted on his feet as Rohid knelt down slowly to look more on level with the animal. The lizard, for his part, blinked slowly and shifted so that his arms and legs stretched out along his sides. “Ah, he likes you! They only lie down like that when they’re very at ease,” nodding. And as Rohid let the silence draw on, content to inspect the animal in peace: “You don’t talk much do you Mister…?”

“Chenthilmurugan,” Rohid supplied, as a quiet, unspoken revenge for the mister. “And not much,” they could feel Robin’s thoughts scramble slightly at the number of syllables before tuning him out to focus. Sinking in deeper against the lizard’s mind was. 

Odd. To say the least. Dominated by instinct but by no means particularly unintelligent. It was merely a different form of thinking. One that suited Rohid perfectly fine. They needed something…not detached, that wasn’t the right word. But something less intense than the bonds of fluffy pack creatures. Baby steps after all. Baby steps towards connection. Towards belonging. 

“How much are you asking for him?” rising up on their feet and reaching into the back pocket of their jeans. Robin didn’t waste time there. And didn’t do much to upsell the animal, either. 

“Three hundred,” he said easily, moving around to the opposite side of the desk to begin pulling out paperwork. “That includes this transport tank but not the final one. And you know about his diet? Fruits and leaves will suit him just fine,” Rohid knew. “I can throw in a sun lamp for an extra fifty, but he’ll be much happier with natural sun,” He could be convinced to waive most of the fees. But that was hardly the point. Rohid took out their wallet, supple brown leather, and pulled out a five hundred dollar bill, placing it silently on the desk between them. Robin watched the fingers moving the bill over towards him like a mouse watching the approaching viper. The sudden anxiety surrounding it was. Rohid raised a single eyebrow. 

“Can’t make change?” putting forward a little attempt to lessen the tension that had dropped into the room without breaking into Robin’s mind. They even smiled. 

Thankfully, Robin laughed. A nervous little chuckle, but laughter nonetheless. “No. I can. That won’t be a problem Mister Chenth…ill,” floundering. Rohid let him. “Moorgin?” he made the attempt at least. “Most people usually pay in credit, I suppose,” Rohid made the decision not to respond to the actual question. Which was, which one of my clients are you? The stupid youth or the dangerous criminal? How much of this interaction might I need to forget about?

“Feel free to make change however is most convenient for you, Mr. Robin,” creating the longest sentence Rohid had managed in the past week. Words were always devious little bastards. Slipping in and out through their ribcage before ever making it to their throat. And by the time they arrived at the mouth, the moment had passed. Or the topic had changed. And whatever it was they had been planning on saying suddenly struck one as being stupid. The habit of letting the silence draw on was a bad one, they knew. It made Julia look at them with the saddest looks sometimes.

Not that they cared much that Julia insisted on being sad for them. In any case, the new animal was likely to be a good conversation piece. 

“Right,” and back again was the unsettled laughter. “Let me just uh. Go open the till. Do you have a name in mind for him?” which, although it was a fair question, struck Rohid completely off guard. Right. They’d need to name the lizard. Something fitting. Perhaps a tropical name? Something evocative of the islands it would have been taken from as an egg or new hatchling. They blinked down at the animal and the iguana blinked right back up at them. And, a rare occurrence, the word came quickly up to their lips. It had nothing to do with islands. Nothing to do with the tropics. But like most things which bubbled to the surface of Rohid’s mind, this one stuck quick and refused to come unglued. 

“Wizard,”


End file.
